Nothing belongs to me except for Ryuu Akihana, Kanta Akihana and the story itself. All rights go to Ryohgo Narita! Enjoy!
Izaya jumped in surprise when a raven flew past his head, seemingly out of nowhere as he and his friends made their way out of the school towards the front gate. Classes had just ended and the students not on cleaning duty or not associated with a club crowded the courtyard as they headed home for the day.
"Stupid bird! I just saw my life flash before my eyes!"
Ryuu laughed at her friend's dramatic outburst while Kadota smiled while ruffling the younger teen male's hair affectionately.
"Ya'know, Iza-kun, different cultures believe that ravens are messengers of a sort. Different religions believe it can symbolize different things."
Izaya listened to his friend as they walked through the streets towards the train station while fixing his now messy hair.
"Really? Like what?"
Ryuu giggled as she thought back to what she had read about the topic while browsing the internet one day.
"Well, for instance, the Native Americans consider the raven to be a magic symbol. Their mythology tells the story of how the earth was created by a raven dropping stones into the sea, creating islands. Africa believed the raven to be a guide, and in China, the raven was a symbol of the sun and seen as a messenger of the gods."
Izaya nodded along, Kadota showing interest by lifting his gaze away from the book he was reading.
"For something so dark in color, I'm surprised they have so much good mythology surrounding them."
Ryuu giggled knowingly.
"Well, with the good, there is also the bad, Kyohei-kun. There are also cultures which view the raven as a symbol of bad luck or impending death. Christians even believed it to be a symbol of Satan."
Izaya gulped at the weight that sort of belief carried for him, having been nearly crashed into by a raven himself only moments before.
"S-Scary…Um, I'm not, ya-know…gonna d-die anytime soon, r-right?"
Ryuu smiled sweetly at her friend, putting him at ease for the moment.
"Who knows? Perhaps today will be your very last moments. Shall I recite my speech for you now?"
Izaya's jaw dropped at the girl's insensitivity. If he looked closely, he could swear horns were poking out from beneath her dark locks.
"Ryuu-chan?! You're cruel! Dotacchin, how can you date such a rotten person."
Kadota chuckled nervously as Ryuu pouted at the raven haired male.
"How mean, Iza-kun! These could be your last words to me! Are you satisfied to be leaving the world with such a thing hanging over us like that?"
Izaya whined at his friend, Kadota being stuck in the middle of them as they squabbled. They only discontinued their argument once they had made it to the station, searching their bags for their train passes.
"Damn it!"
Kadota and Ryuu looked back to find Izaya searching feverishly through his backpack and pockets. Ryuu, out of concern for her friend approached him.
"What's the matter, Iza-kun? Did you lose something?"
Izaya sighed as he ran his hands through his hair.
"My damn boarding pass isn't in my bag. I know I had it when we got to class, so it's probably back at school. Of course, it had to be on the day I didn't bring enough cash with me for a ticket! Do you think either of you could spot me? I promise I'll pay you back."
Ryuu and Kadota quickly leafed through their own wallets, but were disappointed to find only small amounts of change. Even if the teens added their change together, Izaya wouldn't be able to afford the ticket that would take him home.
"Well, I guess I have no other choice besides going back and grabbing my pass before it's too late."
Ryuu made as though to follow the raven until Izaya stopped her.
"If you go with me, Ryuu-chan, you'd have to walk home from the station by yourself since Dotacchin has to go to cram school. Have him walk you home. I'll be fine on my own."
Ryuu looked unsure, concern evident in her eyes.
"Are you sure, Iza-kun? I mean, what if the school is closed, or you can't find it? You'll be stranded!"
Izaya waved off the girl's worries with a reassuring smile.
"If push comes to shove, I'll call Kanta-nii-chan. I'll have him pick me up if all hope is lost."
Ryuu still looked worried, but dropped her shoulders in defeat. Izaya ruffled her hair and waved to Kadota before he quickly ran out of the train station and back towards the school.
Not too far away, a man with dark hair and dark eyes, clad in a grey hoodie, dark jeans and worn out white tennis shoes stumbled through an alley, clutching at his shoulder. The arm connected to the injured joint hung loosely as blood ran down it's length, staining the concrete below.
"Damn it! That stupid shopkeeper must've tipped them off! I'll kill him if I make it through this! First thing's first though. I've gotta find a place to hide out until morning."
Using the wall as a means of support, the man made his way towards a large building with a high wall surrounding it. Making his way over to the gate, the man groaned at the discovery of it being locked.
"Of course! Now what?"
Looking around, the man spotted a patch of foliage growing through the cracks in the stone wall on the right side of the gate from where he was standing. A crooked smirk made its way across the stranger's lips.
"Perfect."
A few minutes later, Izaya arrived at the school to find that it had already been locked up. The raven sighed in disappointment as he leaned against the gate, dejected at having an easy retrieval mission become not so easy. He didn't want to call Kanta, because he felt it would be a bother for him to have to come all the way to the school to pick him up.
Izaya knew that if he could at least find a way inside the school, it would be a simple task of finding his train pass from his desk in his classroom. After he had his pass in hand, he could make quick work of returning to the train station and be on his way home.
"Agh! The new episode of Un-Go is airing tonight! If I don't make it in time, I'll have to wait for them to rerun it, and who knows how long that will be! Why me?!"
The loud cawing of a bird alerted the teen to a raven sitting atop the wall above him. Izaya remembered Ryuu's talk of how raven's were thought of to be guides and figured that then was a good time to test out the theory.
Looking around, Izaya found the raven to be perched above a growth of weeds and vines. Relieved at finding a way onto school grounds, Izaya made his way over to the makeshift ladder and tugged on the vines to test their stability, not noticing the dried blood on the ground below his feet. Once satisfied he wouldn't be falling to the ground unexpectedly, Izaya lifted himself onto the wall and climbed up onto the top, his legs on either side. He stopped to rest for a bit, discovering the bird was no longer in sight.
"He must have flown away while I was making my way up here."
After resting, Izaya swung his left leg over to wall to join his right before jumping down onto the concrete walkway leading up to the large entryway of the school. He quickly switched out his shoes and made his way down the dark corridors and up the stairs to the second floor, where his classroom was located.
"Considering how often I'm here with Ryuu-chan and Dotacchin, I never would have thought this place to be so creepy at night. Well, the faster I find what I need, the faster I can get out of here and go home."
Speeding up his walk towards his classroom, Izaya didn't notice a dark figure following not too far behind him. After arriving at the door of his classroom, the raven made his way inside and quickly found to his desk by the window. Izaya didn't notice how it faintly reflected a tall figure silently entering the room after him.
Crouching low to see the inside of the small table's storage space, Izaya pushed various notebooks, pencils and papers around. He momentarily promised himself to sort through his desk the next chance he got. His hand landed on something that felt like a plastic covering, and the raven internally celebrated having found what he was looking for. Grabbing the item, the teen stood up to confirm it.
However, as soon as the glasses clad boy was standing upright, a soft cloth with an odd smell was brought over his nose and lips. Izaya gasped in surprise as he tried to struggle out of his captor's grasp as the stranger held on tightly, his glasses landing on the tiled floor beneath his and the attacker's feet. Unfortunately, the second the raven breathed in the fumes, Izaya's eyes became heavy and his sight soon faded to black.
Shizuo's eyes opened as the car came to a stop along the street and the black partition window was lowered to reveal Tom on the other side.
"Welcome back! We got a call from the guys."
Shizuo yawned as he pulled out his cigarettes from his pants pocket and brought one to his lips to light it.
"And?"
Tom nodded at his go ahead to continue.
"They were unable to grab him at the docks, but were able to tail him back to a high school in Ikebukuro. It's the one your brother goes to."
Shizuo glanced up at the mention of his younger brother as he lit the cigarette hanging off his lips, and pocketed the pack and lighter.
"Kasuka?"
Tom nodded calmly, keeping his smile in place so as to not worry the artificial blonde.
"No need to worry, school was out by the time the bastard made there. All the kids were gone. However, one came back. We suspect that he's a contact Hiro-san called on to throw us off his trail."
Shizuo raised an eyebrow as he lowered the car window to blow his smoke out of.
"Some high school brat went to act as bait for Hiro Yamada. I call bullshit."
Tom chuckled at the man's quick disregard to the suspicion.
"It isn't unheard of, Shizuo. We have our own high school members as well, you know. After all, who would suspect a high schooler of having dealings with the yakuza. Let's at least talk with him and see what he has to say before we write him off so quickly, huh?"
Shizuo sighed in irritation.
"It's too much effort. Send in those two kids to interrogate him. They always get the job done quickly."
Tom made a face of nervous shock at his friend and boss.
"Are you serious, Shizuo?! Those two could traumatize the poor kid, regardless of his association with Hiro-san!"
Shizuo shrugged as he flicked his finished cigarette out the window and snapped his fingers for two suit clad men to open his and Tom's doors.
"The kid is in high school. He'll have to discover the real world isn't all sugar and rainbows eventually. Get it done. Also, get that call girl from last week on the phone. This whole thing has got me super annoyed and I need a release."
Tom sighed before directing one of the lackeys to do as Shizuo said as he made his way behind Shizuo into the large building acting as an art museum.
Inside, towards the very back with concrete walls and a bright light hanging overhead, Izaya's eyes opened before immediately shutting from the onslaught of white burning his eyes. He didn't know where he was or how got there. The last he could recall was sneaking into the school to find his train pass when he was ambushed and knocked out.
Chloroform... I guess that whoever it was that ambushed me brought me here. But, what do they want with me?
Finally opening his eyes to adjust to the light, Izaya looked around to get a better understanding of his surroundings. His glasses were gone, having been lost in the scuffle, so he could only make out so many details of the room.
What Izaya could see was how the room was completely bare, minus a large mirror stretching the length of the wall in front of him, showing his reflection. Pulling at his arms and legs, the teen found himself handcuffed to a metal chair nailed down into the concrete. His hands were cuffed to the chair's back legs while his feet were cuffed to the front legs, limiting his range of movement effectively.
Growing more and more panicked, Izaya struggled to get himself out of his restraints. The metal cuffs scraped against the chair, the noise joining his panting breath as the raven began to hyperventilate.
A door to the boy's right, made Izaya look up in fear, only to see two young teens about his age walk in with a suit clad, dark male in dreadlocks and glasses behind them, shutting the door once they'd made their way inside. The dreadlocked man was smoking a cigarette with a smile while the teens each carried a black duffle bag, with the seams stretching to hold whatever was inside.
Izaya could feel the sweat on his forehead accumulating as his fear became more and more pronounced. The dreadlocked man was the first to address him.
"Sorry about the rough treatment kid, but we have a few suspicions that we need to clear up regarding you. If all goes well, you'll be on your way home before you know it. Just follow the directions these two give you and you'll be fine. Well, I guess fine in the sense that you won't be dead."
Izaya flinched at the last word the man spoke before the dark, suit clad man made his way out of room.
"Behave you two. Don't go overboard, like with the last guy."
The teens giggled knowingly, the sound sending a cold shudder up Izaya's spine and closing up his throat. The slam of the iron door leading to his freedom seemed to be the bell tolling his fate to the raven.
The teens turned their attention on him with playful smiles on their lips. The shorter of them was a girl wearing a long black dress, black boots and had her brunette hair tied up underneath a black newsboy cap, which shadowed her brown eyes. The taller of the two was a closed eyed boy with blonde hair. He had on a teal hoodie, dark jeans and brown boots.
Izaya shook under their gaze. The look the two teens gave him made him feel as though he were a toy for them to do with whatever they wished. The girl was the first to speak.
"Hi! It's rare we ever get some kid to do this with! How old are you?"
Izaya struggled to speak as he was still having trouble breathing.
"S-Seventeen."
The two made a noise of amazement at Izaya's answer, confusing the raven. The two teens flew into an energetic conversation, Izaya struggling to keep up with the excitable duo.
"Woah, they're sure starting 'em young, Yumacchi!"
"But, Karisawa-san, we started even younger!"
"Ah, that's true. Would that mean that this guy would be considered a late bloomer?"
"Possibly, maybe like Allen or Lavi from D. Gray-Man! Both are pretty young in their professions!"
Izaya perked up at the mention of an anime title he was familiar with. "Karisawa" waved off "Yumacchi's" comment, not taking notice of the raven's sudden interest in their conversation.
"No way, Yumacchi! He's so small and frail, he's probably more like Marry from Kagerou Project!"
"Eh?! But in that later episode, isn't it revealed that-!"
"NO SPOILERS!"
Both the teens halted their conversation to turn their attention back to the boy who was now regretting having opened his mouth.
"Heh? What was that?"
Izaya flinched as the girl spoke to him with an irritated tone at being interrupted from her conversation with her friend so rudely.
"I-I haven't g-gotten very far in t-that series. N-No spoilers… P-Please?"
The two teens looked at each other in a silent conversation before smiling down at the restrained raven sweetly. The boy was the first to speak.
"Very well! I guess we'll just get right to the interrogation then, ne?"
Izaya jumped when the boy suddenly unzipped his bags and dumped its contents at Izaya's feet. Izaya was surprised that instead of a bunch of scary looking devices covered in the blood of past victims, the bag unveiled a large stockpile of manga and light novels.
Looking up at the boy in confusion, the cold, clammy feeling returned when his closed eyes opened in slits, revealing his gold colored irises. The blonde boy smirked cruelly, seemingly looking forward to whatever was in store for the raven.
"Pick your poison."
Afterstory Monologue:
Momo: I finally did it! Through tears and overwhelming stress, I finally got a new chapter out for one of my stories!
Kanta: Does this mean that you're out of your depression. Are you back to normal?
Momo: Not entirely. It's better, but I'm still dealing with a few effects. I only hope I can stay above water long enough to finish the fanfictions I have out. I'm sure some of the readers are growing annoyed or have forgotten about me.
Ryuu: Keep it up! You can do it!
Izaya: Can we please not just gloss over how I'm being held captive by two maniacs?!
Shizuo: Also, why do I have a "call girl"?
Momo: [Puts Hands Together As Though Praying] All shall be revealed in due time.
Izaya: [Mumbles] Yeah, if you can get out of this stupid slump of yours first...
Kanta: Hush, Izaya! [Turns To Camera] Forgive our good author, Momo. She recently fell in to depression with bouts of anxiety not too long ago and has been struggling to find motivation to do anything, let alone write. She's doing better, but it will still take some time for her to go back to normal. In the meantime, please review and send her feedback. Your guy's support really helps her to become a better writer, not to mention gives her that extra boost of energy to get out another chapter for you. We look forward to seeing you again soon! Til next time! [Turns Off Camera]